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Vampire Bloodlines: Masquerade Haunted House

*Spoilers for anyones who hasn't played*

I just picked this up at the weekend on Steam for 4.99. I completely missed this on my console radar at the time, so I'm blown away by how fun this is. The combat mechanics might need a little polish but overall top marks on immersion and fun!

Anyways, I've only gotten as far as completing the Haunted House level where you need to find the pendant to lay the ghost to rest. Holy hell it made me jump plenty of times! The long corridors, flitting shapes, messages scratched into the wall and great set pieces really made it. The children's room with the drawing of the happy family and crazed image of the father was really creepy so when you come back past this room, see the ghost way down the opposite end of the building, and the little toy car rolls out in front of you *shivers*... great stuff!

This is as far as I have gotten so please no extra spoilers, but can I expect a few more missions with this level of craft?

I went with Brujah as my first playthrough anyways as they sounded simple enough (idealistic with simple enough mechanics). I plan on being a nice guy so thought that having high humanity would cancel out any frenzy effects.

I didn't want to read too much about stats and clans etc. my first time through and have just been playing like I play most RPGs like recent Fallouts and ME1 and 2: pump majority of skill into persuading, hacking, lock-picking etc. so I won't miss out on being able to drive the narrative my way, and then try and scrape through in combat as best I can!

Yep, did that as well. Creepiest and most scariest thing I've played in a video game(though I've not played Amnesia or The cradle yet) Unfortunatly its going to be ruined the next time i try it because i died away through and I think i didn't save at all so I was back at the beginning so I kind of know whats coming. Ah well first time was pretty scary enough.

The first time you play the haunted house mission it really is something special although I played it again recently and it loses something the second time.

Hopefully this is cryptic enough but the film quest for me was the highlight. Now that is what I'd call a mature theme for a mature game.

"You go up to a man, and you say, "How are things going, Joe?" and he says, "Oh fine, fine — couldn't be better." And you look into his eyes, and you see things really couldn't be much worse. When you get right down to it, everybody's having a perfectly lousy time of it, and I mean everybody. And the hell of it is, nothing seems to help much." - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Scarest video game Ive ever played. Ive played Amnesia, but not a whole load.
Something about hotels freak me out. I think its all the doors.... what could be behind them?

Wow, am I in for a lot more yet?

I think the scariest game I ever played (in that I feared for my in-game life) was the original Alien Versus Predator. The motion sensor, the darkness, the hissing the SPEED of those damn aliens and F*ckin face-huggers! Bleh!

But for set pieces Vampire has to be hard to top. Admittedly I didn't play Amnesia but it does look like fun!

I went with Brujah as my first playthrough anyways as they sounded simple enough (idealistic with simple enough mechanics). I plan on being a nice guy so thought that having high humanity would cancel out any frenzy effects.

Good choice. For your second playthrough (I highly recommend a second playthrough!) choose Malkavian; they have a completely unique dialogue-tree.

I'm also new to this game from the Steam sale, and just finished this mission. However I am a big coward so I had to do a couple things to cope:

1) I first got to it Monday night before bed, but that would've been a bad idea so I saved and quit, and played it yesterday when I got home from work, in the daylight.
2) I've been playing the game in first person, but I played this portion in third person with my floppy-arm-on-a-stick, flailing it around at unnecessary times for comic relief.

As you can imagine, there is absolutely no way in hell that I will ever play Amnesia.

Skeletor, you're in for a treat!
There will be I think two more scary missions, but of all of them, the Ocean House is really the highlight.
You will still meet many interesting characters and have many important choices. Santa Monica is only the first hub of a few.

You are building your character right. In the first half Persuasion, Hacking (and Lockpicking) are arguably the most important feats.
Only start building your fighting feats/disciplines in the second half of the game.

And one tip: When you come to a map (level) called Warrens in the second half of the game, immediately look into a walkthrough.
Just as the Ocean House is a highlight, the Warrens are the weakest and the most frustrating level/maze of the whole game. Don't let it spoil your experience.

@ Kodeen
Lol at flailing the arm and trying to comfort yourself! Very funny image. I think I got away with it a little easier as I didn't have the sound up very loud, GF was trying to make me half-watch Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model (I didn't of course).

Also quick question for seasoned players. I like sneaking around to complete missions as I think it is more fun than just wading in with a severed arm straight away (maybe once I get caught lol).

Should I put many points into dexterity, or will a few points in sneak be enough? Is there a minimum amount to keep it useful or should I save for other attributes?

I always max out stealth. It's absolutely game-breaking at high level. You can sit in the open in a brightly lit room, and guys standing right next to you, looking straight at you will completely fail to notice you're there.

I found a total stealth score of about 5 or 6 was enough for most areas of the game, though obviously higher is better. You're damn near invisible at high levels of stealth, which can make the later areas of the game a breeze.

Remember that you can give yourself a temporary boost to all your physical stats (including dexterity) with Blood Buff, which can be helpful when stealthing in close quarters. Also remember that most armor will give you a dexterity penalty when you're wearing it.

Also also, if you're playing Brujah, put as much into Celerity as (in)humanly possible. Celerity 4 or 5 is a thing of beauty.

I have a friend who pretty much got a heart-attack and alt-f4'd when Aaron's ghost appaered behind him when he was looking in a mirror. He refused to play the game after that. But yes, howlers, the scrying stone, creepy mansion, cursed family...good stuff.

Other worthy mention in scary shit (although i'll admit not as scary as other games mentioned): the original Condemned. Never played the sequel since it wasn't ported to PC. :(